Coffee Talk

Coffee and I have an unusual relationship. For starters, we never really got together until 2007. I’d never been a fan and always got my caffeine from Coke or, shamefully, when I was beyond hungover in the newsroom on Sundays, Mountain Dew.

Then I moved to New York to be a fashion intern/bitch for the summer. I was on my feet for 9 hours or more a day, often lugging heavy bags of clothing and sweating it out in disgusting subway tunnels. Suddenly I needed coffee, even multiple coffees, to make it through the day. I still didn’t dig coffee, so I added half a packet of hot chocolate to the mix. Sugar and caffeine, mmmm overload.

Also, fashion closet overload:

Once I returned to Oregon for my last year of college, I became a social coffee drinker. Want to grab coffee out sometime? Sure! Want me to make my own coffee every morning? Heck no. Then I moved back to New York. When I actually found a job, which had a free coffee machine like at Conde Nast, I was back to my old habits. Not to mention the free sodas too, which were basically asking me to destroy my health. It was a challenge. I’d go through phases of trying to cut back, but inevitably I’d stay out til 3 a.m. a few nights or be run down by work and I’d become an addict once again.

Then I met C, the coffee master. He made drinking coffee look cool, and I’m all about peer pressure. Kidding… sort of. Now that I’m unemployed, I’m only still drinking coffee because he makes it every morning. And we have a weekend ritual that I mentioned before: peanut butter bagels and coffee at Outpost. A delicious combination.Recently, though, it seems that my alcohol and coffee consumption may be taking a toll on my body. I have a long history of being irresponsible with my drinking, and I decided to cut out caffeine too just to see the effects. Four days in, and I caved for coffee, mainly because it’s just not the same to get a peanut butter bagel without coffee. The plus side is now I’ll be full of energy for the day since I’d been on caffeine withdrawal. Woo! Sometimes I wonder if it’s possible my body is not made for daily consumption of caffeine or liquor. I’m sure I’ll figure some way to work it out.